CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore
Julia Donovan (Antrim, N.H.) scored a pair of free position goals, but #13 Trinity College overpowered Plymouth State University, 22-4, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship at Jack Barry Field on the campus of MIT on Saturday.
Trinity advances to face the #23 Engineers on Sunday (May 14), while Plymouth State's season comes to an end with a 12-7 record.
PSU trailed just 2-1 after Donovan's free position goal early in the first, but the Bantams used a 6-0 spurt later in the period to pull away.
The Panthers scored the last goal of the opening quarter to pull within 8-2, but Trinity seized control of the contest through the middle frames to coast to the win.
Under first-year head coach
Becky Dale the Panthers won the program's ninth Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament title, the most in league history, after knocking off the top-seeded, two-time defending champions WestConn in overtime to secure the league's automatic bid.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 4, #13 Trinity 22
- Plymouth State (12-7)
- #13 Trinity (12-5)
How it Happened:
- The Bantams scored twice in the opening 2:25, but Donovan converted a free position shot with a nifty move to evade the Trinity goalie and make it 2-1 after 3:08.
- It remained a one-goal game for the next few minutes before Trinity began to pull away. The Bantams used a 6-0 run over a six-minute span to jump ahead, until sophomore Maddie Hunt (Acton, Mass.) converted a perfect feed from sophomore Elle Moshier (Stratford, Conn.) late in the period to pull within 8-2 after one.
- The high-powered Trinity offense grabbed control of the game through the middle periods with 12 goals while keeping Plymouth State out of the scoring column.
- Junior Tarryn O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass.) tallied her 12th goal of the season midway through the fourth quarter and Donovan notched another free position goal two minutes later before a late Trinity goal accounted for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Led by sophomore Jenna Stowell (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Megan Gaspa (Laconia, N.H.), Plymouth State owned a 17-11 edge in draw controls. Stowell finished with five draws and a caused turnover, while Gaspa chipped in four draw controls.
- Donovan went 2-for-3 on free position attempts to finish the season with a team-high 47 goals.
- Hunt and O'Brien also scored for the Panthers, while Moshier had a pair of assists.
- Sophomore Margie Black (Longmeadow, Mass.) matched a career high with 12 saves to finish the year with an 11-6 record.
- Plymouth State set a program record for team draw controls in a season with 300, easily surpassing the previous mark of 269, while Stowell shattered the individual record after finishing with 140. The former record was 112.
- Trinity held a 41-20 advantage in shots and was a perfect 24-for-24 on clear attempts.
- Eight of the Panthers nine NCAA Tournament losses have come at the hands of a NESCAC team.
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